The Legend of Korra: Skarloey Kail
by Scrax
Summary: What happens when the world of Avatar simply cannot take care of itself with only one Avatar? When someone takes it upon themselves to recreate the circumstances that created the bridge between worlds in the first place for the betterment of all four kingdoms. Let's find out! Re-do of an old Fic I took down.
1. Chapter 1

The Legend of Korra: Skarloey Kail

Chapter 1

Skarloey walked along the coastline of the southern water tribe, on the last night of the Glacier Spirit Festival. Beside him, his pet Izera, a Tiger-Wolf just as tall as he is, padded along beside him. It was dark by now and he had spent the entire day at the festival, having only arrived by boat this morning. He was getting hungry and he turned down a lane of booths to go and find the last meal he would be eating that day.

His hands were stuffed in his pockets, black shoulder-length hair blowing in the strong arctic breeze. His sea-foam green eyes moved back and forth, scanning the booths for something he would enjoy eating, keeping in mind that Izera would be hungry as well. He soon found a booth selling roasted Arctic Hen, and bought enough for himself and Izera to share.

She was around six and a half feet tall and seven and a half feet long, her coat was deep mahogany with charcoal black stripes, though her underside transitioned into white fur with the same stripes. He had met her seven years ago when she was just a cub, on his twelfth birthday.

Most people thought it odd, a boy traveling with a Tiger-Wolf, an animal that most would not consider a pet, however since Izera had been raised around humans her whole life she had become very used to being around people. Still, people would give her frightened looks when they walked by, even though she was a big softy on the inside.

Skarloey was decently muscled and bore a few marks of a troubled past. He was only nineteen but one could pick out several scarred sections of his skin, even with all his heavy clothing on. His neck had a scar down the right side, and another on his right ear, as if something had cut it in half down the center.

This scar, in particular, had come from when Izera was growing up, and she had lashed out at him when she was angry. Even though she had hurt him and landed him in the infirmary for a while, with several stitches, to say the least, he had insisted on keeping Izera as his pet, because he knew she hadn't meant to hurt him. Most of his other scars we decorated on his body from combat training, when he had been teaching himself to fight.

Skarloey was a self-taught earth bender, and one hell of a metal bender, he had focused on it his entire life, teaching himself everything he would need to know in order to join the military. However, by the time he had reached sixteen years old, he and his family had been cast out of society due to one particular screw up of his father's. Until this had occurred, he had been living in Ba Sing Se his entire life, in the Middle city district.

His father was a General in the Earth Kingdom Army for as long as Skarloey could remember, however, one day when he was coming home from school he found Earth Kingdom troops at their house, tossing their belongings out in the street and his mother yelling at them. Turned out his father had given a group of Fire Nation rebel forces vital information concerning secret routes into the capital city, and so they were being banished. As soon as he was out of the city he was reunited with his father who was waiting for them outside the wall, but he didn't stay with them for long.

It was less than a day before Skarloey decided it would be best to go his own way and start a new life for himself. He left his parents behind and took Izera with him, a year later, when she had grown to be full size he had begun to use her as a mount instead of just a hunting partner. They took any jobs they could along their journey to make money to pay for rooms and food, keeping each other alive. They always packed light, a change of clothes, a bedroll and enough emergency food for two days.

Skarloey also wears a black, full body leather trench coat over a black t-shirt and a pair of black pants, which are boot cut to fit over his combat boots. Once finished with his meal he heard Izera begin to growl a bit, turning to look up at her since he had been sitting down. He found she was looking to the sky behind the bench, over the tops of the booths nearby and soon she began to howl as if she could see the moon, but he knew she couldn't from this angle.

"What is it girl?" he asked as he raised his arm to the top of her head and began scratching her ears. People were looking too Izera with annoyed looks, wondering why she was howling so loud, and Skarloey could hear the muffled sounds of people talking about the two of them. He looks to them angrily but finds that they have all stopped and begun pointing at the sky.

He then stood up and took a few steps back from where Izera is looking, his eyes widening in shock as he begins to see the sky over the tops of the booths. "No way…" he breathes out before walking back to Izera and hopping onto her back as she levels out underneath him and stands up straight. "Come on girl!" He nudges her slightly, letting her know she's okay to start running.

The large Tiger-Wolf happily begins to run as fast as she can through the isles of the Festival, toward the back entrance of the festival grounds, dodging people left and right, several of them beginning to follow them out of the grounds so that they too can see the sky more clearly. People everywhere were climbing onto the roofs of the booths and climbing the framework on some of the rides so they could get up higher. Once outside the Festival grounds, Skarloey let Izera know it was time to stop, people running out of the festival behind them and starring up into the sky.

A little girl and her mother came alongside them and Skarloey could hear the young girl asking her mother about what it was. "Momma," she said tugging on her mother's robes, "What is it? I can't see over all the people!"

Skarloey quickly leaned over and picked up the small girl and set her down on Izera's back in front of him. "Woahh-hah," the young girl laughs out as she is lifted up and can now see the sky. The young girl's mother looks over to Skarloey worriedly but decides to not say anything.

"Those," Skarloey begins, still in disbelief, "Are the Southern lights." He had only just arrived here and couldn't believe that he had been around to witness such an amazing event. What were the odds that after over a hundred years the southern lights would suddenly reappear in the sky! Izera began to howl low and long as if signing to the sky as she had been before.

He soon let the little girl down and the girl's mother smiled up to Skarloey, he could tell she was glad he hadn't done anything to her daughter. Most would take one look at the man and immediately write him off as a suspicious person. More than once he was blamed for things he had absolutely nothing to do with simply because of his looks.

After a while, the crowd thinned out, but once again Skarloey could hear a woman talking nearby him. "Korra did it…she really did it," the woman looked up the sky with a smile on her face.

"Korra?" Skarloey asked out loud as Izera shuffled over the woman, "You mean Avatar Korra?"

"Yes of course."

"She did this? How do you know?"

"She is my daughter, she is at the south pole right now with her uncle and her friends."

"How did she do it? That is incredible."

"Something about a spirit portal, I don't have all the details about it," she said as she looked over Skarloey, easily able to tell that he has been run ragged and hasn't stayed in anywhere nice in quite a while. Mother's intuition. "Who are you?"

"Hm..?" Skarloey hummed, not paying attention.

"What is your name child."

"Skarloey…"

"You got a last name Skarloey? Earth kingdom folks always seem to, makes them sound more important."

"…Kail…"

"Kail? I know that name…why do I know that name?"

"Because if you are the Avatar's mother that means your husband is the leader of the Southern Water Tribe, which makes him the Water Tribe General who was banished from the north. You know my name because my father was also a General, banished from the Earth Kingdom, Rheneaus Kail."

"You are the child of Rheneaus Kail? That man almost single-handedly began a second great war with what he did…no wonder I remembered the name."

"Yeah…I know," he said before having Izera turn away and begin walking back toward the harbor, having the intention of finding a place to sleep where he wouldn't need to pay.

"Wait…Where are you staying tonight?"

"Where ever I crash, why?"

"…Why don't you come stay at our house for the night? Korra and her father will be back in the morning, so there is plenty of space for you and your friend," she says smiling up to Izera who has turned back around.

"Really? You would let her stay in the house?'

Korra's mother laughs at the question, "Son, I have had a Polar Bear-Dog living in my house for over a decade now, I don't think a Tiger-Wolf is going to be any more challenging than that." She then holds her hand out to Izera, who takes a moment to sniff it before licking her once and then nudging her hand with the tip of her nose. "She is very well behaved."

"Thank you, she seems to like you, and if she trusts you then I do, thank you, hop up and we can give you a ride back to your house."

Korra's mother climbs onto Izera's back behind Skarloey and she leads him to their home. Once there she led the two of them inside and hopped down off of Izera. "You two can use this room all you like, make yourselves at home. I would let you stay in a real bedroom but I don't know what time Korra will be back. If she found you asleep in her bedroom she would probably be furious," she laughs out. She then left the room to go to sleep herself.

"Thank you," Skarloey called after her before getting off of Izera's back and pulled his backpack down off of her and removed her simple saddle and sets them aside. He wouldn't need the bedroll since he was inside with the fire going, not to mention he could lean against Izera when he slept for extra warmth.

Izera quickly pads over to a corner of the room, a few feet from the fire and walks in a circle a few times before lying down, at which point Skarloey walks over to her and sits down beside her. He removes his trench coat and leans against her, lying down and then spreads his coat over him, using it as a blanket. By the time Korra's mother comes into the room to shut all of the lights off, she finds Skarloey and Izera both fast asleep in the corner of the room.

"Can't be easy…being on their own like they are. They must be exhausted, hopefully, over the next few days they will be able to relax a little." She had no idea that she couldn't have been more wrong.

End of Chapter

This is a re-upload of an old Fanfic I used to make. I took It down a few years ago because I hated it but now I've edited it and run it through Grammarly. For now every week I'm gonna edit a chapter of this and just put it up cus it only takes a few minutes and I really feel bad for not having the drive or time to Update AMBR right now. At least this way I'm doing SOMETHING. Some things will be getting changed this time around with this story but the main plot is still the same.


	2. Chapter 2

The Legend of Korra: Skarloey Kail

Chapter 2

Skarloey awoke the sounds of panic and marching outside the large tent and soon began to hear another commotion going on only a few feet away from him in the doorway. He sat up an wiped his eyes out, trying to focus on what was happening and soon found Korra's mother arguing with a man and teenaged girl. Before Skarloey had even had a chance to really wake up and start to focus, a polar bear-dog came rushing through the doorway past the others and began to growl loudly in his direction.

He then felt movement behind him and turned to see Izera standing up and walking in front of him to block him from the large beast, as she began to growl back at it. Skarloey quickly sprang to life and stood up from the floor and walked in front of Izera and took her face in his hands and looked into her bright golden eyes, trying to get her to focus on him.

"Common Izera, it's okay girl don't worry," he soothed as he began to scratch one of her ears to grab her attention. Almost at exactly the same time, the teen girl began to calm down her pet.

"Naga hush, it's alright. You," she said turning to Skarloey once both of the female mounts had stopped growling at each other. "Who are you."

"I have been trying to explain to you that he is a guest," Senna nearly yelled, clearly aggravated.

Skarloey waited while everyone began to calm down a little and let him speak for himself.

"My name is Skarloey, Senna let me stay here last night because I don't have a place to stay, I was here for the festival. We met when the Southern Lights came back to the sky."

"You let a stranger stay in our house?" Tanraq questioned.

"I wasn't going to let the boy stay out in the cold now was I?"

"Ya dad jeez have a heart," Korra said quietly looking away from her father.

"…Uh…not to break up the caring family conversation, but what is going on outside?" Skarloey asks.

"Northern Water Tribe troops have arrived and are locking down the entire city, they have already blockaded the harbor."

Almost before Tanraq has finished his sentence Skarloey yells out, "What? They can't!" He runs past everyone and out into the cold morning air to see first hand that everything Korra's father said was true. He then dropped to his knees, feeling and looking very defeated. "They can't keep us here, there are tons of tourists here, they have no right to close the harbor."

Everyone joined him outside, Izera nudging him in the back with her nose before rubbing her head against the side of his head, attempting to comfort him.

"You're a tourist?"

"Yes, and you are the Avatar, so I suggest you get a handle on this situation before I have to."

"Oh like you are gonna take on the whole Armada by yourself?" She jokes.

"If I am stuck here for any longer than a week, then yes, I will."

Senna then takes hold of Tanraq and Korra's hands and pulls them aside to talk to them. "This kid is the son of a banished Earth Kingdom General, he has no connections and no money to spare. Not only that but from what I know of his family he should be something special when it comes to bending. He is troubled and powerful, in my experience that is a deadly combination when it needs to be."

"Banished Earth Kingdom General?" Tanraq says louder than he should, Skarloey able to hear him but not the others.

"His name was Rheneaus Kail," Senna confirms before seeing Tanraq's face fills with surprise.

"You are the son of Rheneaus Kail?!" He asks looking to Skarloey.

"Who is Rheneaus Kail?" Korra asks.

"One of the strongest Earth benders ever born, it's said he had an incredible mind as well. His strategic nature and strength combined led him to the high ranks in no time flat, I wasn't aware he had any children." Tanraq said quietly at the end of his rant.

"I am surprised you know as much as you do about him," Skarloey scoffs.

"Well for someone like me it isn't uncommon to know these kinds of things," he almost mutters to himself.

"Skarloey, you are welcome to stay here as long as you need to, Izera as well," Senna says, breaking the small silence.

"Only if everyone agrees with that," he says, not wanting to impose.

"Alright," Tanraq agrees.

"Sure, now if you will excuse me, my uncle needs me," Korra says, almost with a bite to it directed at her father. She climbs onto Naga's saddle and heads off to find Unalaq.

Throughout the next several days Skarloey barely even sees or hears from Korra, as he is mostly out of the house all the time. He would roam around the town for hours on end, go hunting for his own food, try to take some jobs here and there to get paid a bit, and come back to the house as everyone was getting ready to go to sleep. He didn't want to be in their hair all the time and he didn't want to answer any more questions about himself, nor did he want to get in the middle of the feud between Korra and her parents.

One night, Skarloey was walking around the town looking for a place to buy a decent meal with the small scraps of money he had made over the past few days after the sun had set. By this time of night, he was usually headed back to Korra's house, but he had decided to stay up a bit late tonight with the hope of a good meal. Not only that, but he was also taking Izera on a longer walk to really stretch her legs and get moving. She strode along behind him, occasionally stopping to sniff at things here and there. By this point, most of the people around town had seen Izera several times and knew that as long as they did nothing to provoke her that she wouldn't hurt a fly, and the children around town had grown fond of seeing the large Tiger-Wolf.

She was unique, most of the people had never seen anything like her before. Every so often a few kids would come up to them and begin petting Izera, and the large wolf would lower her head to the children's level and let them scratch at her ears, her favorite spot to be touched. Izera loved all of the attention she was getting, seeing as Skarloey would often move from place to place in a day, so no one ever had time to get used to her being around.

Everywhere Skarloey went however, he could see the people of the Southern Tribe were angry, no doubt due to the North "uniting them". More like invading if you asked Skarloey, especially since the tourists still were unable to leave. Eventually, Skarloey came to a nice looking restaurant and stopped to have a look inside. He left Izera out with a few kids and walked in the building to have a look at their menu. Almost immediately inside, however, he found Korra and her friends at a table.

He then noticed the children of the Northern Chief were with them, but they quickly stood and headed over to the serving area to get more food. He walked over to their table and Korra immediately noticed his presence. "No, not to me it wasn't! I'm very bad at reading people you should know that by now! Huhoh man. Do something Avatarrr," one of the boys at their table half yells before leaning forward as if bowing to Korra sarcastically.

"Sorry Bolin but you are on your own with this one, only you can break up with her," Korra laughs out before noticing Skarloey heading toward them. "Oh look at that, he does go out in public," she says sarcastically to Skarloey.

"Ya well, I saved up enough money to finally pay for a meal so I wanted to check what the sold here. Who'er your friends?"

"This is Bolin and my Boyfriend Mako, they're brothers, Eska and Desna are unfortunately with us as well."

"Ya I noticed that what a riot they seem to be…"

"And you are?" Asked Mako, wondering why Korra knew this man.

"That's Skarloey, he is staying in my house."

"Why do you have another man staying at your house?" Bolin asks, not really aware of how his question sounded.

"Oh it's not like that," Korra says throwing up her arms in an X formation, "My mom invited him to stay after the festival because he doesn't have any money to spare and he was trapped here by the blockade."

"How is that going by the way?" Skarloey quickly asks.

"Unalaq hasn't said anything, every time I ask about that particular subject he dodges the question."

"Only a few more days before I go down there and beat the answer out of him…"

"Can we not do this now?" Korra sighs.

"…You could have said something ya know?" Mako says breaking up the awkward silence. "I would rather he stay with us instead of with you. You have enough to deal with as it is"

"Mean it?" Korra asks surprised.

"Look dude I don't care where I sleep, long as you two are willing to sleep with a-" his sentence is cut off by the sounds of howling outside and men yelling. "Izera!" he yells before turning around and running to the door and throwing it open, the others getting up and following him outside.

They immediately see a group of northern troops surrounding Izera, one of which has his hands on a rope which is tied around her neck, two of them surrounding her at ready stances to strike if needed, the fourth trying to tie another noose around her mouth to shut her up, and the fifth behind the rest with his arms crossed barking orders.

"Stay still you stupid beast!" the one trying to tie the knot around her mouth yells at her, but as soon as he finishes his sentence they all begin to feel the ground trembling.

Korra looks to her left, only to find Skarloey halfway through a punch, aimed straight at a chunk of earth floating before him. The tremble had come from when he slammed his left foot into the ground, making a crater around his foot and getting the chunk in the air in the first place. The chunk was probably twice the size of his own head, Korra couldn't believe how fast the had reacted and begun to strike.

'It's too late,' she thought to herself, eyes going wide. "I can't stop him, I don't have enough time!" she yelled inside her own head, raising her hands trying to get to him in time.

Skarloey's right fist connects with the rock, sending it straight for the man who had the rope tied around her neck, hitting him square in the back and sending him forward into the man who was trying to tie the rope around her mouth. Both men were thrown to the ground and knocked unconscious. Before the others could even react they all felt another quake beneath them as Skarloey slammed his palm down into the ground in front of him, and quickly twisted his palm in the dirt.

At the same moment, the ground beneath the remaining three men began to tremble wildly, before twisting around the same as Skarloey's hand and done, and they sunk shoulder deep into the earth, unable to move. Korra grabbed Skarloey by them arm before he shook her off and walked to the leader of the pack, grabbed him by the neck and pulled him up out of the ground and lifted him off his feet. "Skarloey wait! Stop you're only going to make everything worse!" Korra yelled to him, but he didn't care, these men were now at the top of his list and weren't going to let them go without a lesson.

"You listen good, you, or any other human being on this earth, EVER so much as looks at her the wrong way again, and not even the Avatar will be able to stop me from ending you…" He then tossed the troop into the snow before stomping the ground again, popping the other two soldiers back up onto their feet and out of the ground. "Got it?!" He yelled before the guards collected themselves and grabbed the two unconscious troops and ran away.

"You'll regret this you rotten kid!" One shouted back at him, but he wasn't listening. He ran to Izera's side to help her. She had laid down in the snow with her paws over her eyes and was audibly pouting to herself. He lifts her head up a bit and unties the rope around her neck and tosses it aside, followed by the loosely secured one around her mouth, acting as a muzzle. She then rested her head in his lap and he held her head tight in his arms, trying to comfort his friend. "It's okay girl, everything's alright, it's not your fault…you did nothing wrong," he nearly whispered this to her trying to soothe her nerves.

"You are such!… Do you have any idea what you just did you, idiot!?" Korra yells at him while she walks over and stands above him.

"Yes, I saved the only friend I have, deal with it. If you had done what everyone in your tribe has been asking you to do, this wouldn't have had to happen." Soon enough they begin to notice that they have drawn a crowd and that most of them are beginning to clap and cheer Skarloey on. Some even begin to shout at Korra.

"Stop cheering! He just attacked the Northern troops, now they will be more restrictive then they were before!" She tries to reason with them all.

"He is doing what you should've been doing all along!"

"They started it and he finished it!"

"He is a better Avatar than you are!"

Mako takes Korra's hand and tries to take her away, "Korra common it isn't worth it."

She turns to face Skarloey one last time before leaving with Mako and Bolin, "Don't bother coming back to my house tonight, you are no longer welcome! You're lucky I am not arresting you myself!" she yells before the group leaves.

"I'd pay to see you try.." Skarloey mutters to himself as Izera begins to cheer up a little bit and stand up with him. Skarloey climbed on her back and he began to hear many of the people in the crowd offered him a place to stay the night, Korra could still hear the crowd and began to shake her head in frustration, but didn't say anything. She also however soon heard Skarloey turn them all down and tell Izera to begin walking away, headed for the harbor.

He made his way into the docks and snuck past all the guards, keeping Izera hushed the whole time. They snuck into the cargo bay of the ship they had arrived on and Skarloey found some extra food laying around but not enough for both of them, so he gave it all to Izera to help cheer her up a little. He spread out a blanket for her and found another to lay over her, and then set up his own bedroll beside her and soon fell asleep beside her.

When Korra finally got home that night she walked in to find her mother pacing back and forth in the front room, with something in her right hand.

"Oh, Korra, where is Skarloey?"

"I don't know and I don't care!"

"What's wrong?" She asks as she stops pacing and blocks Korra from storming off to her room.

"Some Northern troops were trying to muzzle and capture Izera and he beat the snot out of them before threatening to kill them if they tried again. He is lucky I didn't personally take him into custody. I told him not to come back here."

"Korra he is a soldier at heart! If someone threatens his friends, of course, he is going to fight for them, he sounds like a friend you should consider having to be honest."

"…Why do you care anyway?" Korra says taking a deep breath and trying to calm down.

"He has no home, he is trapped here with no way of getting home and no real money. Not only that but he probably feels awful about this whole situation…he left this behind when he left this morning, I found it when I was cleaning up." She reveals the object in her hand and hands it to her daughter.

"A locket?" She asks before opening it up.

"Ugh, Korra you shouldn't just go through his personal items like that…" but before long she finds herself sneaking a peak in it as well.

On the left side, they find an inscription and on the right, they find the picture of a young girl, no older than twelve, with jet black hair, a powder white face and beautiful green eyes, not to mention unnaturally red lips. Korra then says the inscription out loud, "Forever in mind, Forever in heart, SK-AS."

"S for Skarloey, I wonder who she is, she is a very beautiful young lady," Korra's mother says looking over her shoulder.

"Probably someone from his childhood in Ba Sing Sei…he must be worried sick about this thing. Nice to see he has real feelings for an actual person."

"We should return it to him…"

"He turned down all the people who offered to give him shelter for the night, how am I gonna find him?"

"Have Naga track Izera as best she can. Try to think of a place you'd hide if you wanted to be alone."

"Alright, I'll be back later then I guess…" she said before running outside and hopping up on Naga's back and beginning the chase.

" A.S…" she thinks out loud, pulling out the locket and looking at the picture of the young girl again, feeling a soft warm smile creep over her lips for the first time in a few days. "Hmm, she really was a pretty one…"

End of Chapter


	3. Chapter 3

The Legend of Korra: Skarloey Kail

Chapter 3

Korra had been out searching for Skarloey for several hours at this point, and she was getting close to giving up on him. She had checked every home, every building and every alleyway in the entire city. Naga hadn't been much help either, she hadn't been able to find Izera's scent anywhere that the two had looked. Korra turned, exhausted and headed for home, but stopped when she heard a familiar voice.

"Korra," the voice rang out and she turned around to find Asami in the doorway of a shop across the street. Naga slowly shuffles over to Asami so the girls can talk, Korra rather wished that she hadn't.

"Hey…Asami," she says yawning and wiping her eyes out.

"You look awful, what's got you up this late?"

"I was headed to sleep hours ago but the guy that was staying in my house caused me another problem..."

"Oh yeah, Bolin told me about the incident this afternoon, what happened this time?"

"He left something at my parent's house and I'm trying to find him and return it to him."

"What does he look like? I'll look with you?"

"Thanks," Korra said surprised, she didn't think Asami would ever want to do anything alone with her, let alone so late at night. "Hop up."

Asami climbed onto Naga's back and sat on the saddle behind Korra.

"He has long straight black hair, green eyes and wears a long black coat, the only place I haven't checked is the docks so I guess we should head there.

"Ya, from what I have heard, he sounds like the kinda guy who would sneak into a locked down shipyard just to sleep if he had to," Asami laughs out and rolls her eyes.

"He certainly is," Korra grumbles out, still annoyed with Skarloey, and was growing even more annoyed by the fact that she knew that in the end she would forgive him and ask him to come back to her house because of what he mother had said. 'I guess as the Avatar I really can't have too many friends who are willing to fight for me…maybe I overreacted earlier…we'll see.' she thought to herself as Naga headed for the docks. "It's sad really…deep down he seems like a good-hearted guy, he means well but he does bad things for good reasons, he takes the harder path without ever considering an easier alternative."

"Sounds like another hard-headed man…"

"Normally I would hate someone like him but…I can tell, underneath it all, he really does care about his comrades, my mom thinks having him as a friend would be a real privilege."

"I suppose, can't have too many people who are willing to protect you. What did he leave at your house?"

Korra reaches into her pocket and grabs the locket, but before she can show it to Asami a Northern Soldier calls out to them.

"What are you doing at the harbor?"

"I'm the Avatar, I need access to the Harbor to search for…something I left on the ship I arrived on."

"You have one hour, any longer and I'll have you and your friend removed from the area."

"Alright," she says as Naga passes by the troop and into the docks.

"I wonder what ship brought him here…bet he is on that one."

"He's an Earth bender right?" Asami asks.

"Yeah?"

"Look for an Earth Kingdom ship, also, since he doesn't have much money it is probably an older ship, a cheap looking ride."

"Good thinking," Korra says as they walk down the line of docks.

They come across a ship that fit's the bill and Naga immediately begins sniffing around and heads toward it. "Found something girl? Is it Izera?"

"His name is Izera?" Asami asks, thinking that it is a girl's name.

Naga barks in agreement and the girls run up the ramp and onto the ship's deck as Naga continues to sniff around. She finds a heavy door and begins to scratch at it. Korra opens it and sees that it leads down below the deck and that it is pitch black.

"No Izera is his pet Tiger-Wolf," Korra laughs a little, beginning to cheer up now that she may have found him. "Stay out here and keep watch, I'll go find him, we don't want any northern troops to find him."

"Good idea," Asami says as she leans up against the wall and begins to pet Naga.

Korra produces a ball of fire above her palm and proceeds down the now dimly lit stairwell. Once at the bottom she yells out to find Skarloey. "Skar!" Her voice echoes in the darkness of the corridors. "Skarrrloooooeyy!" she yells with a hand cupped around her mouth. "Skarloey you here?! It's Korra!" Korra then hears Asami stumbling around at the top of the stairs, followed by her running down them to find Korra. "Asami? You alright?"

Asami grabbed Korra's shoulders and Korra sees that she is breathing heavily and looks like she has seen a ghost. "What did you just say?!"

"What is wrong with you?"

"The name Korra! What is his name?!"

"Jeez chill! It's Skarloey now let go of me," she says as she nudges Asami off of her.

Asami raises her hand to her forehead and her face goes pale, she looks as though she might throw up.

"Asami what is up with you?" Korra asks as she walks to Asami and puts one hand on her shoulder and grabs hold of Asami's hand with her other.

"Skarloey…Kail?"

"How did yo-"

"What are you returning to him?" Asami cuts Korra off.

"Uh…" Korra steps back and reaches into her pocket and pulls out the locket, showing it to Asami. She sees Asami's eyes light up and go wide, "Asami what has gotten into you?"

"Can…can I?" she asks as she reaches out for the locket. Korra nods and hands it to her and Asami opens it up, seeing the picture of the young girl and her eyes water up.

"Asami, why are you crying?"

"Korra, did you look inside this locket?"

"Yes, It's a picture of a little girl, her initials are A.S. righ-" her voice trails off as her eyes go wide, and Asami holds the locket up beside her as if comparing the small picture to her own face. "WHAT?!" Korra yells as her jaw drops. "How did I miss that?!"

"Jesus Korra quiet down I was trying to sleep…" the girls turn to a dark hallway, Korra's fire illuminating Skarloey's face, causing him to put his arms up in front of his eyes, surprised by the light.

"Ugh, come on, point that someplace else…" he yawns out.

"Sorry," she says lowering the flame slowly, still dumbfounded.

Skarloey wipes out his eyes but stops when he hears another voice, unaware that there was another person with Korra. "Skarloey Kail, is it really you?" he hears as he immediately wakes up and looks to the other girl.

"Asami? That you?" he says squinting in the dimly lit room, seeing a glint in her palm.

"It's really you…" Her expression quickly changed to anger in no time flat before yelling at him, "Why did you attack the northern troops?!"

"They started it, they attacked my friend first," and soon enough Izera padded up behind him, and then to Asami, smelling her to familiarize the new scent.

"So this is Izera then?" Asami smiles as she holds her hand out to the Tiger-Wolf, which is quickly sniffed and then licked.

"Yeah, I adopted her about a month after you left…"

Asami then walks to Skarloey and hands him his locket, he then put it back on and tucked it into his shirt. Asami then reaches into her shirt and produces a locket exactly like Skarloey's.

"You've had that under your collar this whole time?" Korra asks.

"I barely ever take it off, only when I'm in the pool back home or in the shower."

The three teens pack up Skarloey's belongings and headed back above deck.

"We'll make a distraction for the troops so you can get out of the harbor unnoticed," Korra tells him. "When you get out head back to my house."

"Actually…would you mind if he stayed with me?" The two give Asami a surprised look and go quiet. "Well I mean, I'm staying alone so I have more room then Korra does, plus as Mako told you, you shouldn't have to deal with anything right now, you have enough going on."

"I don't mind where I go, you know that," Skarloey says to Korra.

"Hey if you want him to stay at your place I'm not gonna argue, go ahead," Korra smiles to them, knowing it's about more than what they told her.

"Okay, meet me at my place then, it's right next to the igloo the guys are sharing."

Korra and Asami get the attention of the guards and Skarloey and Izera manage to slip away. Around fifteen minutes later, Korra drops Asami off at her igloo before heading home, finally, to get some much-needed sleep.

Asami walks in to find the lights out, and the fire pit in the center of the room lit and burning nicely. Izera has fallen asleep beside the fire and her head rests in Skarloey's lap, his hands running gently through her fur. She stands in the doorway up against the frame, watching him with a smile.

"She seems like a nice companion."

"She is, I wouldn't have made it this long without her."

"What happened to you Skarloey? What changed about you? I even went back to your house a few years ago to find you, but you were gone, I asked around the town and everyone refused to talk about your family."

"My father leaked information to fire nation rebels and got us banished. Mom left with him and I left with Izera to get away from him."

"That's terrible, why did they banish all of you? You didn't deserve that, you were just a kid." She walks to his side and sits down with him. "Why didn't you come to republic city? You must have known that that's where Future Industries are located? Why didn't you come find me?"

"Getting into Republic city isn't easy for someone without a passport, or any money or a ruined family name…I missed you Asami…"

"I missed you to…" She says as she leans into his shoulder before sighing and shaking her head. "Can I just ask for one thing?"

"Anything."

"Take this slow…I know when we were kids we had a real spark but…we were kids, it's been seven years. We have both changed a lot, and I don't wanna rush into any more relationships…"

"I agree completely, hundred percent." he smiles to himself and takes her hand in his.

That night Skarloey sleeps on the floor with Izera and Asami sleeps on a bedroll on the opposite side of the fire pit.

The next morning, Skarloey wakes, hearing Asami talking to the pair of brothers he had met the night before.

"Guys I need to go to see Varrick and discuss the deal for Future Industries, wanna tag along?"

He hears them both agree before he sits up, feeling Izera lick his cheek softly. "Good morning girl," he whispers as he scratches behind her ears and stands up. "Morning," he yawns out to the group before putting his long coat back on. "Mind if I come too?"

Mako and Bolin hadn't noticed Skarloey before this point and objected to the idea.

"What are you even doing here?" Mako asked.

"Look, Mako, I invited him to stay here so don't start, we know each other."

"How do you two know each other?" Bolin chimes in.

"We will explain later, let's get going," Asami says rolling her eyes and the group of three boys follows her into town. On the way, Skarloey and Asami explain to the boys how the two of them had met.

When Asami was young, only twelve years old, her father brought her on one of his business trips for the first time. They had rented a house in the middle district of Ba Sing Se, and were scheduled to stay for a few months to oversee the start of production on Hiroshi's new invention. During this time Asami was given a guide to take her wherever she wanted to go. One day she saw Skarloey in the street outside his house, feeding a stray raccoon-cat. Skarloey had always loved animals and she soon found that he would do this nearly every day. Purposely walking by his house every day just to watch him feed any animals that happened to be around his home. When she finally got up the nerve to talk to him, the two hit it off right away, and by the time Asami knew it, her time in the Earth Kingdom was up. They had developed into quite the pair of friends, and soon realized that they liked each other a bit more than any pair of friends ever should. Before Asami left, she had the pair of lockets made, and each of them had promised to find the other when they had grown up.

When they arrived in Varrick's house they found it empty and decided to wait for him. When Eska and Desna showed up with their Northern escort, Skarloey stayed on the couch and sat behind everyone else who was standing up, to hide from the troop's view. Soon enough the pair left, closely followed by Mako, leaving to go find Korra.

Later, at the trial, Skarloey sits outside in an alleyway beside the courthouse, seeing as he is wanted by the authorities as well and shouldn't go inside.

After a worryingly short trial, Skarloey sees the group of suspects, minus Senna, surrounded by Northern troops and closely followed by Korra and Senna. He watches as the troops are piled into a truck and driven off, and notices that Korra and Senna hop up on Naga's back and head after the truck, leaving Mako in the dust.

Skarloey walks up to Mako as the people thin out and head home, "I take it the trial didn't go well…" he ventured.

"How perceptive of you…" Mako sighed.

Later that afternoon, Korra bursts through Asami's door and walks up to them both, sitting around the fire. "Korra? What's up?" Asami asks.

"I need to borrow Skarloey."

"Forrr?" He asks skeptically.

"Muscle, I'm going to knock some sense into the judge and get my father's sentence changed."

"What? Korra you can't just-" Asami begins before being cut off by Korra.

"I'm sick of people telling me what I can and Cannot do! I'm the Avatar! I can do whatever I want!"

Skarloey smiles to himself before standing up, "Common Izera," he says as the Tiger-Wolf stands to attention and follows Skarloey outside, followed by Korra, surprised she actually got him to help her.

"Skarloey!" Asami huffs.

"It'll be fine Asami, don't worry, we won't ruff him up too bad.

"Speak for yourself," Korra retorts with a wicked smile on her lips, beginning to finally relate with Skarloey.

The two mount their guides and set off after the judge, "How do you know where he will be?" Skarloey asks.

"I asked around, he is heading for the other end of the town in a Sautomobile, we should be able to catch him. He is using the mountain ring road and you can't get a car going really fast up there without crashing."

"Then we better pick up the pace huh?" he leans forward into Izera's back, "Alright Izera let's go!"

Izera's pace quickens and Korra can't believe such a small mount, compared to most, with such a heavy rider could get up to those speeds. Korra found Naga having issues keeping up after a few minutes. Skarloey noticed this and eased back to let Korra keep up with him. Not long after, the two caught up with the judge, Korra having Naga run alongside the car and body check it into the drifts at the side of the road.

"Alright Izera, play along with Naga," Skarloey whispers and Izera begins to follow Naga's lead, intimidating the judge until their farce had produced all the results that Korra had wanted.

Afterward, the two found everyone back at Varrick's and explained everything that had happened. Skarloey sat down as the gang began to discuss what to do about it all, and how to save Korra's father from prison. When they had finally decided on a plan they turned to Skarloey.

"We don't wanna attract any unwanted attention…Skarloey you should stay here…"

"Fine, just be careful alright?"

Once the group had left the room, Varrick tried to strike up a conversation with Skarloey, as Bolin began to prepare everything to transport Ping Ping.

"So kid, you're on the run from the troops too?"

"Yep."

"Rebel?"

"Might as well be."

"Then we're allies, my friend! Help Bolin with this and then skedaddle to my boat, I hear you're pretty good at sneakin around so you should have no problem getting past the troops."

"Right, got it," he says, standing up to help however he can.

Skarloey did as instructed and soon enough made his way to the boat, and waited for the others to arrive. Afterward, the whole group arrived, almost all at the same time, they got the boat underway. Skarloey watched as Asami, Mako, and Korra left on the plane and as Korra went into the Avatar state and water bent them a path through the blockade. However, Skarloey turned around to find one of the unaffected ships turning to face them and one of the deck guns lining them up. He ran out onto the deck and quickly took a firm stance, raised his left hand and then brought it down as fast as he could, hands and fingers fully extended, in a chopping motion, before transitioning to a motion where it looked as if Skarloey was trying to rip something in two. Everyone then watched in awe as the ship's hull visibly cracked crudely down the center, before the metal began to screech and moan as Skarloey tore the ship apart, using the crack as a seam. Once everyone was back on board the ship, Korra's father and the men were safe and dropped off back outside the Southern borders and the boat had outrun Eska, the group began to search for Skarloey on the ship. They found him in one of the ship's many bedrooms, bunking down for the night, Korra immediately speaking up.

"How did you do that," Korra laughed out, clearly excited.

"Do what?" he asked, a bit tired.

"Metal bend that massive ship in half, something that big and something that far away must've been almost impossible!"

"Practice…people expect a lot from you when your father is a general, I wanted to join him in the army but that obviously wasn't how it worked out. I trained my whole life to be as good as I could, and in the end, it was all for nothing."

I wouldn't say that," Korra said quietly. "If not for you, that ship could have fired on us and ended our journey right then and there. Far as I am concerned, you have earned your spot in the group Skarloey, and…I would be honored if you stayed with us…thank you…" Korra whispers out as she turns to leave the room with a warm smile on her face. Everyone else follows her out, agreeing with her the whole way.

Skarloey lies down beside Izera and smiles to himself. "Thanks, Korra…" He whispers to no one before heading to sleep.

End of Chapter 3


	4. Chapter 4

The Legend of Korra: Skarloey Kail

Chapter 4

The next morning the group disembarks and is immediately met by the chief of the police.

"Welcome home Avatar, thanks for starting a war."

"I didn't start a war!.. Okay I did, but it's a lot more complicated then you are making it seem."

The two women go back and forth, Mako chiming in occasionally before Lin turns to Skarloey. "I hear that the north already has a price on your head kid, you for the price of a Northern Attack Cruiser, try not to cause any more trouble while you are here Mr. Kail," she barks out before turning to leave.

Skarloey spends the rest of the day with Asami, standing by as she and Varrick got their deal done to send tanks to the south. Once the two of them had finished up, Skarloey gave Asami a ride back to her factory on Izera's back.

"This place is huge," he sighs out, looking through the rows and rows of mecha-tanks. "How can two people live in this massive place?"

"It's just one now, actually…"

"What, did you move out?"

"…You really don't have any idea what happened a few months ago do you?"

"I am extremely fuzzy on the subject yes."

"There was a small civil war in Republic City, Equalists were fighting against the police and the united nations, trying to claim that we were oppressing them for their "Disability". My father turned out to be one of them and is now spending life in prison…"

"…You okay?"

"Ya, I'm over it, it's for the best…"

"Losing family is never for the best."

"…I know," She says as tears gather in her eyes and he pulls her into a hug. Izera even pads up behind Asami and rubs her head into Asami's back. "Thanks, guys…It's great to have you back Skar."

Skarloey agrees to stay with Asami while they are in town but insists on staying in a different bedroom. The next day Skarloey hears about the attack on the cultural center and immediately seeks out Korra, however, he can't find her anywhere. He searches the entire day before giving up and heading back out the next morning.

"God I hate this city, way too big…haven't been in an area this populated since I was a little kid and I can't remember how to get around," he sighs out and sulks, still walking down the street. However, moments later he looks up and finds she is right outside the Police HQ, but she climbs right onto Naga's back and storms off.

"Korra!," He yells out, trying to get Izera to catch up to Naga.

"Go away Skarloey!" She yells back, turning back to face him, face littered with tears. She then heads for Varrick's filming studio and Skarloey follows behind her trying to stay discrete.

He watches as she drops off Naga with Bolin and once she walks back out he does the same with Izera and follows her on foot to the docks. He finds her loading a speed boat with basic supplies and then she starts the outboard motor. As the boat begins to pull away Skarloey springs into a sprint and jumps from the end of the dock onto the back of her boat, and Korra turns to face him when she hears his boots hit the deck. He sees her face is still wet and she looks miserable.

"I told you to leave me alone!" She yells hysterically.

"Well I'm not going to so deal with it, where are you going…what happened."

"Why do you care?! I bet Mako told you to keep an eye on me didn't he?! You're on his side!"

Korra then feels her cheek begin to sting and she hears a crack as Skarloey's palm connects with her face and she freezes in shock. "When are you going to get it through your thick skull Korra! We are all on your side!" He yells at her and then calms down, pulling her into a hug, and he feels his coat begin to get slightly dampened by her tears. "In the past few days, Asami has told me about all the times you have lashed out at the group and acted as though everyone you care about is out to get you. You are such an idiot…Mako loved you and you ruined it didn't you? Probably because you are too stubborn to just shut up and admit when you are wrong. Mako didn't tell me anything, I haven't seen him for two days."

"Then how did you know what happened?"

"It's not too hard to guess based on what everyone's told me about you, Korra, we are all on your side, but you shouldn't be doing things behind the world's back. You are the Avatar, start acting like it instead of acting like a child."

"I'm sorry, I will, but I need to see this one thing though, I have to do this, for my father."

"Agreed, I'm coming with you."

"What?" She moves away from him, surprised.

"I told you I won't leave you alone, you showed me kindness and now I will do the same for you."

"Hmm," she hums out and a smile creeps across her lips. "I guess I see what my Mother and Asami see in you after all. You're a really great friend Skar, let's do this."

"Right," he smiles and takes a seat, letting her drive.

On the way, the two of them fall silent, unsure of what to talk about, until Korra finally decides to speak up.

"Hey, Skar."

"Mmm?"

"What is it about Asami that you like?"

"What do you mean?"

"What about her specifically attracts you?"

"Well…Her eyes, she is strong, independent, she listens."

"Mako says I don't listen."

"News flash, you don't."

"I know that I can't help it. I get too angry when things don't go exactly my way. I even kind of bullied Mako into our relationship in the first place. I even sort of pushed Asami and him apart."

"So that's what she meant."

"Ya."

"I guess I shouldn't talk, it was my fault for not being there for her all this time, it is only natural for her to seek someone who would make her happy. And I wouldn't be so hung up on breaking up other couples, we are teenagers, these kinds of things happen."

"So…what would a guy see in me? Say I wasn't the Avatar, just a normal southern water tribe girl?"

"Well…" he pauses looking her over more closely.

"…That bad huh?"

"No, gimme a second. You…Korra…areee…different."

"Wow…what a wonderful compliment…"

"Avatar or not, you are unique, one of a kind. Strong, tall, Naturally beautiful, dependable, I don't really know you that well yet, I can't say I'm into you that way."

"…You really mean that?"

"Yes Korra, you have a charm that no one else does."

"Thank you…" She feels her cheeks begin to heat up.

The two then hear the sound of motors and turn around to find Eska and Desna following them on jet skis. Before either of them can do anything about it their boat is destroyed and they are tossed into the water. Korra, however, begins water bending herself in a cyclone and continues on ahead fighting the twins, leaving Skarloey in the dust. He begins to swim after them and after about a minute he sees the twins retreating back from the direction they had come, without any sign of Korra. He comes to a section of the water covered in sea foam and rippling outward and looks down into the water and sees Korra sinking lower and lower into the ocean. "Korra!" He yells in surprise before taking a deep breath and diving into the water after her. He opens his eyes briefly to see exactly where she is before the cold salty water forces him to shut his eyes again and swim blindly down to her. Once he feels her he takes hold of her and swims her back up to the surface clumsily. He was never a great swimmer but out in the ocean, carrying another person, he was even worse. Once above the surface again he spotted an island off in the distance and began to swim as best he could towards it. Due to the extra weight and cold water, it took him hours to reach the beach, and by the time he did, night had fallen over them. Skarloey felt like he was ready to lie down and die. He was exhausted but he needed to get Korra to safety, he wasn't about to let the Avatar die in his arms. He carried her up the beach, out of range of the tide and set her down in the sand. He checked her pulse and found she was still alive but just barely and sighed in relief, falling back into the sand beside her.

"Oooohkay…food…shelter…I don't think I can handle that right now…"

His eyes begin to creep closed and no matter how hard he tries to fight it off he can't escape the exhaustion. He looks over to Korra, seeing her face leaned over and facing him and he watches her sleep for a minute. She looked so soft, her hair was strewn about, her ponytail had fallen out and he rather liked the way her long hair looked. She really was quite a natural beauty underneath all the yelling and anger. "Skkahhh…" He heard her breath out quietly, her head beginning to turn side to side as if trying to escape a nightmare.

"Korra? You awake?"

"Skar…stop."

"Stop what?"

"Skarloeyyy…stop, please."

Skarloey watched as her facial expression change to that of worry as if she was going to cry. "Don't leave, don't go…not like him."

Skarloey moved over next to her and took hold of her hand, "I'm here Korra…" He noticed as she calmed down and seemed to fall back to deeper sleep. "Why are you dreaming about me?" Skarloey took off his coat and lied it over her, figuring she would need to stay warm more than he would, and soon fell asleep himself beside her in the sand.

The next morning Skarloey felt himself being flung away by a blast of air, and he lands face down in the sand. He shook his head and wiped his eyes out, then looked up and was blinded by the sun. "Hm? Korra? That you?" He asks as his eyes adjust and sees three sages surrounding Korra, on her knees and clearly out of energy. Korra looks to him questioningly when he speaks to her.

One of the sages turns to him and speaks up, "Who are you? What happened to you both? Why can't she remember anything?"

"What? Korra, you can't remember anything?" he asks standing up and starting to walk back to her. Just as he asks this Korra collapses into the sand, "Korra!" He yells as he runs up to her and takes her into his arms. "You're sages, right? Where is your temple? We have to help her."

"This way," one of the sages says and leads the way as Skarloey lifts her up bridal style and follows him. One of the sages noticed his coat in a pile on the beach and grabbed it for him, following them to the temple. Once they had arrived, the head sage instructs Skarloey to leave Korra on their stone table and he does just that, stepping back to let her work. The sage carrying his coat gives it back to him and he shakes it out quickly, "Thanks," he says to her as he slips it back on. "My name is Skarloey, we were headed to meet the Fire Lord when she was attacked by a dark spirit, Korra took a real beating and I swam her to shore, I'm pretty useless in the water."

The head sage confirmed that Korra had been infected by the Dark Spirit, and they all set about getting her into a sort of hammock and lowering her into a pool of healing water. The sages began explaining everything that Korra would be going through down in the pool and began to explain to him the entire legend of the first Avatar, Wan.

"Wait," he starts after they finish telling him the legends. "So what you are telling me is, there is a spirit, living in the Avatar, bonded with their soul, through every reincarnation…Raava? The spirit of light. And the only reason Wan could master all four elements was that she would hold the three elements he wasn't using at any given time? And they would switch elements when he required a different one to use?"

"Put simply, yes."

"He still needed to seek out all the different Lion Turtles to get the elements beforehand though."

"Until Raava and Wan combined their souls, at which time he entered the Avatar state. He could control all four elements in this state but could only sustain it for a minute or so. At the Harmonic Convergence, he and Raava combined again, but this time Wan touched his hand to the southern end of the portal to the spirit world, causing a reaction between himself and Raava, combining their souls forever. After this event, Wan could control all four elements outside the Avatar state, and entering the Avatar state simply made his bending exponentially stronger than normal."

"So…Could any spirit do this for a human?"

"No, only a truly strong spirit and a highly unique individual could bond, and even then it would be nothing close to the Avatar."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Raava and Vaatu were two of a kind, no spirit could hope to match their power. Some people speculate that it would be possible for a spirit and person to merge perfectly but they would, at most, only be able to handle two elements."

"How would someone judge their own power?"

"That is something they'd need to judge for themselves."

"Right…thank you, when she wakes up can you tell her to come to find me?" he asks without waiting for an answer, walking out of the building, needing to gather his thoughts and be alone for a while to think.

"You don't think he would really try it do you?"

"Several have tried in the past ten thousand years, all have failed. I doubt he would be foolish enough to try."

Hours later Korra finally wakes up and the sages pull her back up. "How did I get here?"

"Your friend swam you to shore after the spirit knocked you out."

"Friend?" She thought out loud, only remembering coming alone. However in a few seconds all her memories of the night before flooded back to her, all the things she had said in her sleep on the beach. "Skarloey," she gasped out, "where is he?"

"Don't worry, he is safe, he left the building a while ago, he asked us to tell you to go and find him once you were awake."

Korra looked all over the island before finding Skarloey sitting on the edge of a low cliff over the water, legs hanging over the side.

"Mind if I join you?" Korra asks quietly.

"Nah," he sighs out patting the ground beside him.

They sit in silence, Skarloey waiting for Korra to say something, but since she doesn't he decides to start.

"Korra, I think I know what I want to do with my life now."

"Really? What is it?"

"The sages made me realize that everything is really about you. Everything revolves around the Avatar…and after almost losing you last night I thought…maybe there should be someone devoted to helping the Avatar, someone to share the giant burden. It's a big world Korra…It can't be easy being everyone's bridge."

"And…how would you do that?"

"Learn a second element."

"But that's not-" she starts but is soon cut off by him.

"It can be done, it's a long shot but…it's possible, and I need your help to do it."

"But how?"

"I need you to go to the spirit world and find me a dragon spirit."

"What? Why?"

"If I merge with a powerful spirit, it would be possible for me to contain two elements in my body. However, I would also need to track down a Lion Turtle capable of giving me the element of fire. The sages told me that Aang met a Lion Turtle on Ember Island which taught him Energy Bending."

"Skarloey…I'm glad you have thought this all out but…I've never even been to the Spirit World, nor do I know how to go there."

"I didn't say we need to do it right now when you are ready we can give it a try…I can wait."

"Okay…and thank you, for saving me last night, I'm sorry if I said anything that bothered you."

"No worries, as I said, I think I found my focus, and it's to help you," he says before smiling softly to her. "You need anything and I'll be there."

Korra's cheeks redden and she looks out to the ocean, "Thanks, Skar."

End Chapter 4


	5. Chapter 5

The Legend of Korra: Skarloey Kail

Chapter 5

Once the sages had given Korra a Sky Bison to use, she and Skarloey set off, headed for home, or so Skarloey had thought. "Korra?" he spoke up after a few minutes. "Any reason you are going the wrong way?"

"You and I have something we need to take care of. Harmonic convergence is only a few weeks away, the sages just told me. which means you and I have to get this done fast, or else you won't be able to bond with your spirit partner in time."

"And how does that work exactly?"

"I'm not entirely sure, I'll need to make contact with my past lives to figure this all out."

"If that's the case, head for Ember island, we can get you someplace secluded to meditate."

"Already headed there, actually that is exactly where we need to be." She turns around to look at him, lying down on the bison's back, staring into the clouds. His words from the night before echoed in her head. 'You are my purpose in life,' she hears his declaration ring out in her mind and shakes her head before turning back forward. She then begins to think to herself, 'Did he mean that…He plans to stay with me…forever? does he really feel that way about me?'

By nightfall the pair had reached Ember island and landed in an area where all the vacation houses were abandoned and destroyed, seeking a place to be alone. They searched what was left of the homes but found nothing useful at all. Skarloey soon left to get firewood as Korra used her water bending to catch some fish from the ocean.

Once finished eating they let the fire continue to burn and sit in the sand, watching the stars. "Hey…Skar," Korra says quietly, breaking the silence.

"Yeah?" He asks in return.

"Is it me you want to protect? Or the Avatar?"

"Why can't it be both?"

"You said you didn't feel that way about me. The other day you said you didn't know me well enough?"

"I still don't know you very well but, Korra I'm not going to pretend to know what I'm doing or getting myself into, but I know that it is what I need to do.."

Korra scoots over in the sand until they are close together. "Mako made me realize I'm pretty abrasive and too forceful."

"Not surprising…Mix a fire bender with an Avatar that prefers fire bending and get a hot passionate mess."

"Ya…I guess you do."

"I don't claim to be a calm and collected guy but-"

"No stop, you really are, you are always so calm unless someone threatens a friend of yours. Just promise me something okay?"

"What is it?"

"If I step out of line…put me back in it, yell at me, don't back down until I listen to you. That was one of the things I never liked about Mako…he wouldn't stand up to me when I treated him unfairly."

"Hah, you got it Korra."

Soon enough the pair found themselves drifting asleep in the sand as they starred up at the stars.

The next morning Korra wakes to find them still lying there in the rough sand of the beach. She wiped some of the sand off of herself and looked out over the ocean, the sun only just rising. "Well…everything's quiet…now is as good a time as any." She crosses her legs and rests her hands on her knees, closes her eyes and begins to breathe deep and long breaths. Her eyes slowly open again, glowing white, in the Avatar state and looking straight ahead of her at the sunrise. In her mind she finds herself floating in a void before Aang appears before her.

"You are getting much better at meditating Korra, eventually you won't even need to go into the Avatar state to contact us."

"Thank you…Aang."

"I know what troubles you Korra, we all do, Skarloey's request."

"Yes…I want to help him, I really think it is a good idea, his heart is in the right place and-" but she stops when she sees Aang hold up his hand, taking it as a sign to stop and she sees him smile.

"I agree with you."

"Really?" She asks, very surprised by his answer. "So you'll help me then?"

"In every way that I can, ask away."

"How did you find the Lion Turtle on Ember Island?"

"I didn't, I was asleep one night and when the Lion Turtle came close by to the island I began to sleepwalk, and awoke the next morning on it's back. I was attracted by its presence, and so shall you be when it arrives."

"Did the Turtle tell you what element it once gave out to the ancients?"

"No, this Lion Turtle taught me to bend the energy inside people."

Almost as soon as Aang finishes talking they both notice Wan appears beside Aang. "Wan?" Aang gasps in surprise.

"Korra, that Lion Turtle is definitely the one who gave me the element of fire, however, they all said they would never give humanity the power of the elements again," Wan says as he stands beside Aang.

"They have already gone back on their word once for the Avatar, by teaching Aang to energy bend," Korra says trying to figure this out.

"In a way I suppose, Energy is not one of the elements, but for the Avatar I'm sure they would make one exception," Wan says scratching his head in thought.

"Okay then," Korra starts again, "on to item number two, I need a Spirit Partner for Skarloey to merge with."

"He wishes to learn fire bending yes?" Aang asks as he scratches his chin.

"You would need a very powerful fire spirit to handle such a task, only a dragon, or perhaps a phoenix-bird could be capable of such a partnership. I don't think I have ever come across a dragon who wasn't too proud to be partners with a human…except for-" Aang is suddenly cut off by the appearance of Avatar Roku on his other side.

"My animal guide…Fang," he says slowly, thinking the situation over.

"Do you think Fang would do it?" Aang asks his older counterpart.

"To protect the Avatar? Fang would do anything."

"So we can really do this thing?" Korra says excitedly.

"There is no guarantee that Skarloey would Survive this ordeal, and it is up to Fang to decide, it's not my place to answer for him. Skarloey seems to be quite the trustworthy and selfless young man though…it is possible he will succeed."

"Ya trust me I noticed…" Korra mumbles out, a blush spreading across her cheeks. "How can I find Fang?"

"I will ask him, I was the one who sent Fang to find Aang when he needed my help, I have retained a spiritual bond with him, it will only take a minute or two to explain the plan to him, excuse me." Roku then dissipates and Wan follows suit, Korra and Aang wait patiently for Roku to return.

"Do all of the Avatars retain a spiritual connection with their guides?" Korra asks a bit shyly.

"Yes, we all do, I have retained a connection with my guide Appa, even Wan and Mula remain connected."

After hearing this Korra smiles brightly knowing she will be with Naga forever, and Roku shows up to give his verdict.

"Fang has happily agreed to your proposal, he is heading out of the spirit world as we speak to find you on Ember Island."

"Will he be able to merge with Skarloey if he is just in spirit form like when Fang found me?" Aang asks.

"He won't have to Since the southern portal has been reopened Fang will be able to return to the physical world as a flesh and blood dragon. Hopefully, too many people don't spot him on his way to you. Most people believe there aren't any dragons left in the physical world and we need to keep it that way."

"So, assuming all goes well, would Skarloey and all of his decedents become like us? Able to contact each other? Able to remain connected to their animal guides? I'm not sure he could spend eternity without his guide…" Korra says quietly thinking of how much love Izera and Skarloey had for each other.

"There is no way to be certain, again, this has only ever been achieved once before, but it is the best possible outcome yes. All you need to do now is wait for the lion Turtle, it frequents on Ember Island, and will more than likely find you there within the next day," Aang answers her.

"Thank you all, for everything, I'll go wait for Fang with Skarloey," Korra says before pressing her right fist to her left palm and bowing shortly. She leaves the Avatar state and immediately sees Skarloey sitting right across from her in the sand, watching her meditate. She smiles and leans forward, pulling him into a hug. "Mission accomplished," she laughs out.

"Really? That seemed pretty easy?"

"Turns out we had just the dragon for the job lying around. He should be here by the end of the day he's flying here from the southern spirit portal. Now, all we gotta do is wait for the Lion Turtle to show up."

"When will that be?"

"Probably within the next day."

"Thank you Korra," he smiles out and hugs back before letting her go.

"I should be thanking you… you are risking your life to protect me."

The two wait nearly all day, and as the sun is setting they hear a mighty roar coming from the sky. They look up to find a red and white dragon descending from the clouds toward them. They stand up to meet the dragon, but as it gets close to the ground it coils around Skarloey, separating him from Korra. Fang stairs down into Skarloey's eyes, as if judging him, and Skarloey looks straight back, trying not to show any fear. Korra looked on, hoping Fang wouldn't hurt Skarloey or the other way around. Neither of them had ever seen a live dragon before and were too shocked to call out for each other.

Suddenly one of Fang's whiskers extends toward him and connects with Skarloey's forehead. Skarloey feels as though his body is electric, as pictures begin to flash in his mind. First came a picture of Roku riding on Fang's back, second came a picture of Raava fighting Vaatu. Next came a vision of Raava holding the element of air for Wan, and then Raava passing through him and switching elements with him. Next came images of Raava and Wan combining their bodies and entering the Avatar state and touching the southern portal during Harmonic Convergence. Then Fang took his whisker back and Skarloey staggered a bit holding his head in his hands, Fang backed away and let Korra rush to Skarloey's side.

"Ooooohhkayyy…that's gonna take some getting used to," he says rubbing his head. He feels Korra place her hand on his shoulder.

"You alright?"

"I'm fine, he can talk to me by sending pictures into my head."

"What'd you see?"

"He showed me how we need to change elements, and also what we need to do to permanently combine as Wan and Raava did. We gotta get this done as soon as possible so I can combine with him on Harmonic Convergence, so I can help you defeat the north and so I can help you if Vaatu gets out of control. You may need to remain neutral in the conflict but

I don't," he smiles out to her.

"You would do that? For me?"

"Korra, you are the Avatar, you are the bridge between worlds, no matter what happens you must remain neutral unless the safety of the world is at stake. You have to do all the goodie goodie crap, but I don't. No one knows about me, I'm a new face, a blank slate. I'm a street rat, and the only thing the world knows about me is my last name. I can become whatever I want, I can do the dirty work that you can't"

"Sounds great if you ask me, so now we wait for the Turtle?"

"I guess so."

Later on, that night they are back around the campfire and Skarloey is getting to know his new partner. "So Fang, do you get along with other animals?"

The dragon looks back at him, curious as to what he means.

"I hate to tell you but I have an animal guide already, she's a Tiger-wolf. Once you and I merge it will be for, hopefully, eternity. You ready for a commitment like that?" Skarloey sees the dragon nod it's head once in agreement, "good to know," he says thankfully knowing Izera will be safe around him.

Once everyone had fallen asleep that night Korra suddenly woke in a flash, her eyes glowing white. Her eyes return to normal as she looks over the ocean to see something massive headed their way. "What is that?" She says softly, squinting and rubbing her eyes out. "Is that…the Lion Turtle?" She says shocked at how truly massive the creature is. She shakes Skarloey awake and points out the Turtle to him and they both notice Fang begin to stir. He lies down flat on the ground and looks to them before nodding his head toward his back. They hop on his back carefully and he flies them a little ways away to a large cliff and motion for them to get off. They do as instructed and turn their attention back to the Lion Turtle, which has gotten significantly closer, headed right toward them. When the Turtle reaches the shore it is completely uncovered from the water and walks up to the cliff, the young humans face to face with the ancient creature.

"Great Lion Turtle," Korra begins, "I seek your help with a request."

"The Lion Turtles no longer interfere with human affairs," the massive creature replies slowly.

"Please make one last exception, seventy years ago you granted Avatar Aang the knowledge of energy bending, and it was you who granted Wan, the first Avatar, the power of fire."

It looks them over slowly, thinking to itself, "What is the request?"

"To grant my friend the power of fire, in order to create a second being able to control more than one element."

"You wish to seek out all the Lion Turtles to create a second Avatar?"

"No, this being will only be able to control two of the elements, rather than all four. He will be an aid to the Avatar, to lighten the responsibilities. The world has grown too crowded for one person to handle the responsibilities of the Avatar alone."

"Wan was not the only person to ever attempt this, there is no guarantee you will survive the process."

"I am well aware of that fact," Skarloey speaks up, Fang growling in agreement with him.

"Your spirit partner is a wise choice and your intentions are righteous, I will grant you the power of fire, however, your partner will have to hold it for you until you have mastered it.

"Thank you," Skarloey says before bowing to the great creature, Fang coming to rest beside him.

Once Fang has received the element for Skarloey, the Turtle turns back toward the ocean and walks back into the water, leaving Ember island. Once out of sight, Korra and Skarloey climb back onto Fang and he flies them back down to the beach. They climb off and Korra takes a few steps away from them Skarloey stepping out in front of Fang.

"Alright Fang, go time, hit me…I have already mastered Earth bending, there is nothing to learn that I don't already know. I need to concentrate solely on fire until harmonic Convergence has arrived." Fang nods in agreement and takes off, flying around a bit and getting a good run up on Skarloey. He then flies full speed right at Skarloey and when they connect, he goes straight through him as a red aura shines off of Skarloey's body. He feels an extreme weakness and by the time Fang has passed through him all the way he staggers and nearly falls to the ground, but Korra rushes to his side and holds him up. Skarloey breathes heavily and feels a bit faint for a minute or so before looking up at Fang.

"Are you alright Skar? Maybe this wasn't such a goo…"

"I'm fine Korra…don't worry." he then turns back to Fang. "You got my element?"

The dragon nods to him and Skarloey holds himself up on Korra for a moment before standing up straight on his own and returning his breathing to normal. "I'll be fine, I never realized how weak I felt before I had a mastered element. Most of my life I have been earth bending and metal bending, to have such a strength removed from me was just a little shocking."

"So then, it worked?"

"Only one way to find out," he says as he stands tall and stomps the ground, expecting to be able to see all around him, feeling for vibrations, but gets nothing out of it. "Yep, I got nothing."

"So, you wanna give some fire a shot?"

"Let's do it, instruct away."

"Okay," she takes a few steps back from him. "In my experience, my fire bending is fueled by my rage, but I have come to learn that true fire bending comes from one's passion, their love."

"Aang teach ya that?"

"Yeah actually, deep breathes fuel the fire, the more breath the more fire, but make sure to keep it under control. In fact, practice toward the ocean so you don't set anything on fire," she laughs out quietly.

Skarloey takes a ready stance and Korra steps in to correct him. "You are too solid, fire is more fluid then earth, loosen up a little."

He does as instructed and closes his eyes, loosening up a little, palm up in front of him. "Okay," Korra approves, "Now I'm going to pass you a flame, all you need to do is keep it going and contain it."

"Got it," he says calmly.

She produces a small flame and gently places it above his palm, the flame lighting up his face. "It's so…beautiful…it's like-"

"A little heartbeat," she finishes his sentence, getting a short flash of the first time Aang held fire. She feels her face heat up and she watches as he controls the flame, fascinated by it. He then took a more ready stance and punched toward the ocean, flames erupting from his palm, before dying back down to the small flame it started as.

"Wow," she says watching him closely. "You're a natural!" She stands beside him and watches his little flame dance in his palm. He looks down to her, watching the reflection of his flame in her big blue eyes.

"All about the breath right?" He asked rhetorically. "Just gotta exhale when you strike and the fire will grow and shoot forward. Simple enough."

"Hah, don't go upstaging me so easily Skar. It takes years to master bending an element, even if you've already mastered another.

She said that but wasn't entirely sure if she had meant it or if she was trying to heal some wounded pride. Fire bending had come just as easily as Water bending for her. Possibly even easier. Earth had been more of a struggle but not by much. She was still a bit ashamed of how long it had taken her to grasp even the basics of air bending. She still wasn't even very good at it yet.

"Well, some elements are more closely linked than others ya?" He asked, cutting through the silence.

"Yes. In theory, the hardest one for you to master would have been Air bending since its the opposite of Earth bending. Besides between me and Fang, teaching you fire bending should be pretty easy. You've got the Avatar and a literal fire breathing Dragon to show you the ropes," She laughed as Skarloey smiled up to where Fang's head lingered above them.

"Oh you think so huh?" she chuckled out. He couldn't really tell but he swore he saw Fang's lips curl as if confirming the statement. "Well, I'm not tired yet so, teach away."

End of chapter 5


	6. Chapter 6

The Legend of Korra: Skarloey Kail

Chapter 6

By morning Skarloey awoke to find himself on the Bison's back surrounded by trees, only a few paces from what looked to be an air nomad temple. He recalled the night before briefly, remembering that Korra had convinced him that they should leave at dawn to catch up with Tenzin and his family. He happily agreed, thankful she had changed her mind about contacting the Fire Lord. He sat up and found Fang on the ground beside the Bison, coiled around himself and awake, waiting for Skarloey to get up.

"Fang, you see where Korra went?" He asks as he climbs down off of the Bison and walked over to his new partner. Fang's whisker extends to his forehead and he is given a vision of Korra turning to wake him up when they landed, but instead, she smiles softly and decides to let him sleep, before dismounting and heading up the stone walkway and into the temple. "No sense in you hiding here Fang, Korra's family wouldn't hurt a fly." Skarloey turns to the temple and heads up the steps, Fang slithering along silently behind him, still trying to remain as unseen as possible.

Once at the top of the steps he peeks his head around a corner of a large stone archway, seeing Korra and her friends gathered around the center of the room. He leans up against the doorway to wait for them to finish, not wanting to interrupt. However, as soon as he had gotten comfortable he let out a gasp and began to fall forward in surprise when Fang nudged him in the back with his nose. He stumbled forward and was only able to keep himself standing by wrapping his arms around Korra's waist and using her to hold him up for a second. He turned his head to scold the large dragon but didn't get the chance, when he realized that everyone in the room was looking at the massive creature, about to panic. Bumi had noticed Fang first and had quickly moved to the front of the group as if to guard them against its attack. Tenzin and Kaya had already readied themselves for an attack as well but Korra threw up her arms and began to yell to them over all the screaming.

"CALM DOWN EVERYONE, FRIENDLY DRAGON!" She finally got out as everyone looked closer at Fang, who was simply lying there on the ground, not wanting anyone to start a fight with him.

"Jeez Fang," Skarloey says as he lets go of Korra and walks over to the dragon and placing his hand on his long nose. "You trying to make a fool of me? I guess you are an animal after all...you must get playful sometimes huh?" He says smiling down to his partner.

Tenzin then speaks up, "Wait...you are the Earth bender from the south pole," he says before taking a closer look at the giant white and red dragon. "And if my eyes are not deceiving me, you are the animal guide of Avatar Roku!"

Korra sighs loudly before running her hands through her hair, "Okay I guess I didn't explain EVERYTHING." Korra then explains to everyone about Skarloey and Fang's plans and they all calm down. Tenzin and Korra then leave the room to speak in private. Skarloey soon learns from the group that she and Tenzin will be trying to enter the spirit world, but unlike everyone else, he elects to give them some space and leave them alone.

"What?" Kaya asks as Skarloey turns to leave the area. "I thought you and Fang would want to get in touch with the spirit world too?"

"Nah, I don't think we are ready for that yet if you guys need me I'll be practicing my fire bending by the ocean so I can't burn anything down. He climbs onto Fang's back and the dragon takes off slowly and flies them through the roof and down to the shoreline.

Korra comes back into the room and Kaya speaks up, "And that guy is your boyfriend now?"

"Woah what?! No!" Korra spat out in surprise.

"He doesn't even seem concerned, you could be gone for days in the spirit world!"

"He knows I can handle myself, besides, I have Tenzin with me so chill out," She laughs out.

"If you say so," Kaya says following them where Tenzin leads them to meditate.

By late in the afternoon, Skarloey has run himself ragged and is riding Fang back to the temple. After landing he had Fang sniff Korra out and finds her and Tenzin in an indoor shrine. He watches the two of them silently for a moment before walking over to Korra and speaking up, "You in the spirit world or what?"

"Ugghhhh...noooo," she sighs out as she opens her eyes and looks up to him, "We can't figure it out."

"Don't worry," he says, "You'll get it, just keep up the good work," he says as he walks to the other side of the room and slumps down against the wall and rests.

After a small while, he hears Korra and Tenzin begin to argue before Tenzin admits he has never been into the spirit world. Jinora then steps up and explains that she knows of a place that would be easier to enter the spirit world, and the group moves to the ancient meditation site. Skarloey and Fang hang back as everyone else checks it out. After Tenzin determines that the area must be cleansed, Skarloey watches as Tenzin begins the ritual to purify the area.

Suddenly, dark spirits erupt from the hollow section in the center of the site, and after dodging several attacks from Tenzin and Korra, Korra uses her water bending to cleanse the spirits, causing them all to dissipate.

Skarloey then hears Korra apologizing to Tenzin for trading him up for Unalaq in the first place. Once Tenzin and Korra have broken their make-up hug, Skarloey rejoins the group, "When did you get that down?"

"I think my encounter with Rava may have done something for my spiritual side."

As Tenzin goes to meditate, everyone else takes a seat to wait. Korra leaning into Skarloey's shoulder, watching Tenzin.

"You sure you don't want to go in with us?"

"Ya...another time, I'm not ready yet. I have to say I feel I am mastering fire bending very quick. Having a dragon to teach you it's element really works wonders."

"Uhm..." They hear Jenora speak up and look to her.

"What is it Jenora?" Korra asks.

"Mr. Skarloey..."

"Yes?"

"Are you spiritual? Well...you must be if Fang bonded with you so quickly."

"I don't really know, how would I be able to tell if I was or not?"

"You would be able to see spirits naturally for starters."

"I don't know that I have... I have seen a lot of strange stuff in my life but I wouldn't think any of it was spiritual."

As the day moves on and into the night, Tenzin remains alone in the meditation area. Finally, once he has given up, Korra and Jinora head to the area and give it a try.

"Korra," she hears as she is about to sit down, Skarloey takes her hand and she turns to face him. "Be careful okay? You won't be able to use your bending in the spirit world..so look out for each other..."

"Don't worry," she smiles out, appreciating the gesture. "We will."

Soon enough the two are in the spirit world, the rest of the group watching their bodies.

After watching them for about an hour, Skarloey stands up and walks a few yards away from the group. By this point, everyone other than Tenzin and Kaya has fallen asleep. "Where are you going?" She asks him.

"Nowhere, just practicing my fire bending, he says as he creates a flame in his palm. "Harmonic Convergence is only weeks away, I need to master this element as soon as possible."

"You really want to commit your life to this...Don't you?"

"Yes I do..." he says turning away from them and closing his eyes. "Fang," he calls out to his partner and the dragon's head pops up and he hovers to his partner. "We are going to try and merge for a few seconds...not long remember, I don't want any dragon body parts, no offense."

Fang nods his head and flies up into the sky, getting a good run up on Skarloey, "Let her rip!" He yells up to the dragon as he charges down at him from the top, their heads touching briefly before Fang's entire body merges with Skarloey with a flash of bright red light. His eyes flash open, completely filled in with red light, and he takes a ready stance and everyone in the room stands speechless as they see the flames in his hand begin to burn blue rather than the standard red. He too seems a bit surprised but doesn't linger on the surprise.

He then sends a few punches to the sky and then stomps the ground, causing a boulder to fly up from the ground and he then sends a punch its way, the blue flames propelling the boulder into a nearby tree, the boulder going straight through the wood and the top of the tree falling to the ground. After this Fang leaves his body and Skarloey falls to his knees breathing heavily.

"Amazing," Tenzin says to himself, "No one other than the avatar has ever been able to do that."

"Well," Skarloey stands and turns to them. "It's been ten thousand years since the Avatar was formed since an individual was unique enough to merge with a spirit and learn more than one element. I don't think it's too strange to think that after ten thousand years someone else met the criteria," he sighs out as he sits beside Fang, patting the closest section of the coil of his tail. "You alright Fang?" he asks as the dragon nods, "good...you left me with fire bending right?" and again the dragon nods to him. "Are you the reason my fire burns blue? Or is it also partly my fault?" One final nod from the dragon gets a smile out of Skarloey and he relaxes against the dragon's body. "We are going to make one heck of a team Fang.

As the night drags on Skarloey falls asleep, however, he feels himself being nudged awake. He opens his eyes to find Fang right in his face, extending a whisker to his forehead. Through his mind run images of Korra in pain, in trouble and failing to bend against an enemy that he can't see. He takes his whisker away, Bumi watching the pair the entire time as it is his turn to watch them.

"Korra!" Skarloey shouts out as he jolts up to his feet, "Common Fang we need to go!" He says as he climbs up onto the dragon's back.

"What? Where are you going?" Bumi yells to them as Fang takes off.

"Southern portal! Korra is in trouble!" he yells back as he is already almost out of earshot.

Back in the spirit world, Korra finds Vaatu, along with Unalaq who has captured Jinora. As Korra opens the portal to complete Unalaq's deal, however, he goes back on his terms and the dark spirits take Jinora away, and the Dragon-bird swoops in to save Korra, waking up in the real world in mere moments. She explains what has happened to Jinora, and as Tenzin is holding his daughter's body in his arms she feels she has missed something. "Hey...where's Skarloey?"

"He and Fang left last night, he sensed you were in danger. He should be headed to the southern portal..." Tenzin speaks softly.

"You let him go alone?!" Korra yells. "He will be taken by Unalaq too!"

"Korra," Bumi speaks up, "He's a tough kid, he will be fine, he is smart enough to not attack his own."

"We need to go get him!"

"What we need to do is get to republic city and tell the president what has happened," Tenzin says as he takes Jinora onto Ugi's back.

Once Skarloey has reached the border of the southern tribe, he finds all is quiet. Seeing troops on patrol and the blockade still in place. He lands out of sight on the outskirts, only to quickly see the group of southern rebels retreating to their makeshift base and he sets off after them.

When he arrives he finds Katara tending to all of the wounded men, when she notices him she speaks up. "I know you...your that Earth bender who was staying with Korra during the festival right?"

"Yes, mam...where is Tanraq?" He asks as he scans the room.

"...He didn't make it back, Unalaq has him prisoner."

"Can I stay for a few days? I need to finish training, I'm sure Korra and the others will be here in a few days."

"Of course you can stay," she says pondering what he said, "But you seemed to have Earth bending mastered? What training could you need to do?"

"I guess you're not really in the loop huh?" he scratches his head. "If you smell fire don't panic okay?" he laughs out as he leaves the building and rejoins Fang in the snow. "Okay, Fang, just one thing left, lightning generation here we come.

End of Chapter 6


	7. Chapter 7

Legend of Korra: Skarloey Kail

Chapter Seven.

"Unalaq is gonna destroy the whole world?!" Bolin yells out.

"He is trying to release a very powerful spirit during harmonic convergence. If he succeeds, the world as we know it is over."

"My answer is still no Korra if the world is thrown into chaos, I need the troops here to protect the city and citizens, I'm sorry," Raiko says as he turns and walks away from them.

Asami then speaks up, "If you need help I'm here for you."

"Same here!" Bolin says enthusiastically.

"Great!...Wait...where's Mako?"

Asami and Bolin look to each other with guilt plastered on their faces.

Katara walks outside two mornings later, seeing Skarloey standing alone in the open area in front of the base, taking note that his hair has been cut to only a few inches in length and is more uniform and tamed. She takes a step toward him only to almost have a heart attack as Fang flies right over her head, over the building, circles around and dive bombs right into Skarloey's body. Much to her surprise however, the dragon doesn't simply pile drive him, instead, he disappears inside of the young man's body. A massive flash of bright light shoots out of Skarloey, blinding her for a moment, and when she looks back she observes as he slams his right foot into the ground, eight massive boulders flying up from the ground around him, the first dead ahead of him.

Keeping one arm extended to hold them all in place, he takes his right hand and extends his pointer and index finger straight out, and raises it above his head. He then begins to stretch it out to the right of his body slowly, his fingertips beginning to spark, flashes of lightning coming off of his hand and lighting up the area around him in the dim light of the arctic morning. He then brings his right arm in close to his body before jabbing it out toward the first rock, as a massive bolt of lightning shoots from his fingertips and collides with the center of the boulder, shattering the rock completely, shards flying a short distance in every direction. He then repeats the process six times with the remaining boulders until there is only one left. Senna then walks out to see what all the commotion is before stopping in her tracks and watching with Katara.

"I never thought I would see the day..." Katara says in awe.

He sets the last boulder down right in front of him and again repeats the process of gathering the lightning at his fingertips, before closing his hand into a first, watching his own hand as it is charged with electricity. He then takes a ready stance and sends his fist colliding into the rock, the boulder shattering right in front of him, and as the shards threaten to fly at him he takes a deep breath and lets out a roar, as blue flames shoot from his mouth and repel the debris.

"But...that's..." Katara says as her eyes widen, remembering all too well the only other fire bender she met who's flames burned blue.

Seconds later, the two women jump back as they see Fang fly out of Skarloey's body and curl up around him on the ground, Skar dropping to one knee for a moment before rectifying himself.

"I thought the guards were just kidding when they said they saw a dragon here," Katara says quietly.

"Well you have been cooped up I the healing tent for a few days, I don't blame you," Skarloey says as he turns to face them.

"To think, another person has mastered more than one element...it isn't supposed to be possible."

"Anything is possible...however unlikely it may seem," he says as he pats Fang's head.

The group then hears the soft rushing of wind, looking up to find Oogi in the sky flying toward them. Skarloey then hears a familiar panting and looks behind him to see Izera in mid pounce at him. Fang quickly removes himself from the situation as Izera lands on Skarloey and knocks him to the ground, nuzzling up to her friend and licking his cheek. Between licks and laughter, Skarloey sees that Naga is close behind with Korra on her back. Korra hops down and immediately heads to her mother.

"Mom!" She yells happily as she hugs her tightly.

"I'm so happy you're here," Senna says softly.

"Where's dad?"

"Unalaq wiped out the entire southern resistance and captured your father," she weeps out.

"I'll get him back," Korra promises her.

Tenzin then steps in, "Mom," he says, bringing Jinora's body to Katara.

"What happened?"

"Her soul is trapped in the spirit world."

"Oh my goodness," Katara says worriedly, "How long has she been away?"

"Almost a week," Kaya says speaking up, "I've tried to keep her energy flowing, but I can feel her slipping away. You're the only one who can help her now mom."

The group takes Jenora off to a more private pool to use for healing, while Korra stays outside with Skarloey.

"Did you really fly all the way down here in the middle of the night to try and save me?"

"...Is that bad?" He asks as Izera lets him up.

"It would have been bad if you actually went through with it," she sighs happily as she walks over and pulls him into an embrace. "How did you know?"

"Fang told me, not sure how he knew. He is a spirit technically, I'm sure he still has a connection to the spirit world."

"Well, while I appreciate the thought, you forgot one crucial detail. I'm not trying to blame you, but you and Fang could have helped."

"How?"

"The avatar is a bridge between the worlds. Half spirit, half-human, Now, you can be too."

"Well, if we were permanently merged I would agree. Until that time it would probably kill me to use that much energy while fused with Fang."

"True...guess I forgot you two aren't entirely connected yet. You're so in sync. You learned Fire bending so fast that it's hard to remember that you're from the Earth Kingdom. How is that by the way?"

"Spent the last two days on lightning generation. When your teacher is a dragon it really isn't so hard. Especially when we fuse. It's like our minds become one, I know everything he does and vice versa. I was going to go for the portal but it is surrounded by northern troops and dark spirits." The group then returns outside and gathers around the two of them.

"It's alright," she smiled back, reaching across the space and taking his hand in hers. "I'm just glad you didn't get too crazy with your recklessness," she laughed out.

"Ya..I'm fine," he stuttered out with an equally shy smile. "Sorry if I made you worry I... wasn't really thinking ahead when I rushed off," he said a little too quickly with a small sigh in his voice.

"Are you alright?" Asami asked him, almost shyly. Korra wasn't used to seeing her friend like this. Asami was always exuding confidence, and it must have taken an incredible amount of affection for her to be acting shy around Skarloey like she was.

'Come on Korra you need to stop falling for Asami's boyfriends, this isn't cool!' She scolded herself in her own head.

Korra continued to back away to try and give them space, but she couldn't help but keep her eyes on Skarloey. It had become harder and harder to keep her thoughts from him lately and she wasn't entirely sure why. She appreciated everything he was doing, greatly in fact. But there was something else. It was the way she had looked a Mako only weeks before. She put her hand over her mouth as her eyes widened a little in realization. "Oh man not again," she breathed out as she quickly looked away from the two, their words drowning out in her mind as her thoughts began to race.

As Korra moved away from him, suddenly seeming to be aware of how long she had been standing so close to him, He saw Asami coming toward them, having taken a backseat while the two had caught up. "Hey," she breathed out, a bit in shock."

"Unalaq has the portal totally surrounded," Korra relays to Tenzin and the others as they walk back out into the snow, breaking Asami and Skarloey's clearly intimate moment. She was simultaneously sorry for the action and happy she had done it. "Harmonic Convergence is only a few hours away."

"Then we have to break through the enemy lines ourselves and get to the portal now," Tenzin says confidently.

"There's no use in talking anymore, we know what our mission is."

"Suicide mission..." Bolin murmurs.

"Ya know I was in a similar situation once, my platoon had crawled through the desert with no water for a week! But when we finally located the only oasis for a hundred miles. It was surrounded by angry sand benders! I realized our only chance to get to the water, was to drop in from above! So I fashioned together a catapult, with the help of a few well-trained hog-monkeys-" Bumi says before Tenzin cuts him off.

"Enough of your ridicules lies! Can't you see that the fate of the world and Jinora's life depends on what we do here today?!"

"Hold on...maybe Bumi's right..." Asami cuts in, "We don't have a catapult, but we have a flying bison and there's a plane on Varrick's ship. And Skarloey has Fang, we really can attack from above!"

"What are you thinking?" Korra asks.

"Mako, Bolin and I can use the plane to create a diversion, go after some of the defenses. Skarloey and Fang can deal with the dark spirits, and the rest of you can fly into the portal when you see an opening."

Korra and the entire gang agree before she speaks up one last time, "Let's get moving."

Izera begins to whine softly, looking up into Skarloey's eyes.

"It's okay girl," he says as he pats the top of her head. "Stay with Naga and Pabu. I promise I'll be okay." She then pads slowly over to the other animals and sits down, watching as Skarloey climbs onto Fang's neck and the pair set off. Behind the southern troop's lines, the twins enter their father's tent.

"What are we still doing here father?"Eska asks.

"The invasion was completely successful and the southern tribe is under our control. The spirit portals are open."

"You restored balance, so now we would like to go home."

"You don't understand," he sighs out as he stands up. "Everything I've achieved so far will pale in comparison to what I'm about to accomplish."

"What else is there? The tribes are united."

"After today there will be no water tribe, no more nations of any kind. The world is about to be transformed into something magnificent and new. And I will lead this glorious revolution, now go outside and get the troops ready to defend the spirit portal."

"From whom? We've already beaten everyone."

"The avatar will be here soon, she has no choice."

As the three teams fly closer and closer, Oogi flies up higher than the other two.

"Are you ready?!" Asami yells to Bolin.

"I'm an earth bender, strapped to a plane hundreds of feet in the air, so...no?!"

"Don't worry! There's no way they are expecting this!" Mako yells.

The group then flies out of the cloud cover to find a line of Mecha Tanks and dark spirits.

"I think they were expecting it!" Bolin yells frantically.

The group flies overhead as the troops ready their defenses. After a few moments, Skarloey sees the water benders in the trenches fling ice shards up at them in the plane, however, Skarloey and Fang split off, flying far faster than the plane.

Asami dive bombs the plane before pulling up and telling the boys to fire, Mako and Bolin beginning to fire bend and earth bend at the troops. Skarloey, however, keeps heading straight for the portal.

"There are too many spirits! I don't see an opening!" Korra yells out, before she sees Skarloey approach the portal, most of the spirits fly right at him.

"Alright, Fang let it rip!" He yells as Fang let's out a breath of fire, followed by Skarloey fire bending in tandem. They begin tearing through countless spirits effortlessly, none of them even getting close to them. Korra and the others, however, are much less fortunate.

Tenzin does his best to steer Oogi clear of their attacks, but the spirits quickly overwhelm the giant bison. Bumi attempts to wrestle one-off but ends up falling off the bison on purpose, taking the spirit with him.

Not a moment later, the group watches the twins take down the plane and it crashes into the snow, followed by Oogi giving in and crashing into the snow not too far away.

"Common Fang!" Skarloey yells turning the dragon around to head after them but sees the troops surround the two groups of his friends. "Too many..." he pauses. "He won't kill them...not yet." He thinks out loud before turning back to the portal. "Fang head for the portal," he says after seeing Bumi get up from the snow. "Bumi will get them," he says as Fang growls in agreement and they weave quickly through the remaining spirits in their path, entering the massive beam of light as a red flash illuminates the sky.

End of Chapter


	8. Update

Update

Heyyyy y'all….sorry for the...ghosting this story. I'm here to explain.

So to keep a short story short I...I don't like this story very much. Not because I hate the plot but because I kinda...screwed it over years ago. This fic was actually started while Korra was airing and I got as far as 12 chapters in before the show ended. I liked Korra as a show for the first two seasons but it just kept getting worse and worse until the point where I ended up hating the show long before it ended.

That and my lack of free time at the time killed the fic. In 2019 I tried to proofread some of the old material and started re-uploading it, only to get sick of proofreading it because of how terrible I feel it is.

Now clearly, according to the reviews, that's just a me thing. Clearly some of you like this series and I appreciate it but...in the last year, I have grown as a writer A LOT. Looking back at this series just makes my brain hurt because….I can do sooooo much better now.

I have a ton of free time now and I'm currently writing three different fics at once which are all much longer and higher quality than this one. They are just for smaller and less active fandoms than ATLA and Korra.

As soon as one of them ends I would like to come back and completely rewrite this fanfic from the beginning. Not just edit it but just do a complete rewrite. Same plot and it will still closely follow the show.

The only problem isssss...I don't remember most of what happens in the show anymore. There doesn't appear to be a free way to watch it and it is currently only streaming on a streaming service that I don't own, and won't be paying for simply to rewatch a show that I didn't enjoy the first time.

So as soon as I get my Violet Evergarden fic finished, and find a way to rewatch Korra for free, I'll be picking this back up from the beginning.

Thanks for your patience and I'm sorry I've made you wait so long for any form of update. Please PLEASE feel free to read some of my other stuff if you like the way I tell stories.

Alone Together and it's sequel Young Volcanoes are definitely the best writing I've done so far and the easiest fandom to get into without knowing the source material.

Thanks for your time.


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